2020 Oklahoma Sooners Football Countdown to Kickoff | 21 Days!

Welcome back to another exciting edition of our 2020 Countdown to Kickoff series! Exactly three weeks from today, the Oklahoma Sooners will open the upcoming college football season against Missouri State. That said, I want to use this opportunity to take a closer look at an impressive run that spans three separate decades. I’m talking about OU’s active streak of playing in 21 consecutive bowl games!

One thing that can be said about Oklahoma is that it’s rarely gone through periods of mediocrity on the gridiron. Sure, there have been small stretches where the team was a bit tough to watch, but overall, the program has remained nationally relevant for most of its existence. The current run of maintained success began with the hiring of Bob Stoops in 1999. Ever since that season, the Sooners have gone bowling every year, which is good for the third-best streak of its kind (behind Virginia Tech’s 27 and Georgia’s at 23).

It’s no secret that OU has set the standard for the Big 12 with consistent excellence on the football field. Speaking of which, the Oklahoma State Cowboys hold the league’s second-longest active streak at 14 consecutive postseason appearances. After that, there’s a sizable gap with the Iowa State Cyclones and Texas Longhorns having each been to three straight bowls games.

Here are the 21 bowl games that make up Oklahoma’s active postseason streak:

1. Independence Bowl — Ole Miss 27, Oklahoma 25 — 1999 season
2. BCS National Championship Orange Bowl — Oklahoma 13, Florida State 2 — 2000 season
3. Cotton Bowl — Oklahoma 10, Arkansas 3 — 2001 season
4. Rose Bowl — Oklahoma 34, Washington State 14 — 2002 season
5. BCS National Championship Sugar Bowl — LSU 21, Oklahoma 14 — 2003 season
6. BCS National Championship Orange Bowl — USC 55, Oklahoma 19 — 2004 season
7. Holiday Bowl — Oklahoma 17, Oregon 14 — 2005 season
8. Fiesta Bowl — Boise State 43, Oklahoma 42 (OT) — 2006 season
9. Fiesta Bowl — West Virginia 48, Oklahoma 28 — 2007 season
10. BCS National Championship Orange Bowl — Florida 24, Oklahoma 14 — 2008 season
11. Sun Bowl — Oklahoma 31, Stanford 27 — 2009 season
12. Fiesta Bowl — Oklahoma 48, UConn 20 — 2010 season
13. Insight Bowl — Oklahoma 31, Iowa 14 — 2011 season
14. Cotton Bowl — Texas A&M 41, Oklahoma 13 — 2012 season
15. Sugar Bowl — Oklahoma 45, Alabama 31 — 2013 season
16. Russell Athletic Bowl — Clemson 40, Oklahoma 6 — 2014 season
17. College Football Playoff Orange Bowl semifinal — Clemson 37, Oklahoma 17 — 2015 season
18. Sugar Bowl — Oklahoma 35, Auburn 19 — 2016 season
19. CFP Rose Bowl semifinal — Georgia 54, Oklahoma 48 (2OT) — 2017 season
20. CFP Orange Bowl semifinal — Alabama 45, Oklahoma 34 — 2018 season
21. CFP Peach Bowl semifinal — LSU 63, Oklahoma 28 — 2019 season

OU is 9-12 in its current run of postseason play, including one national championship victory, three more national title appearances, and four CFP semifinal berths.

More notes on Oklahoma’s history in bowl games:

• Oklahoma’s all-time bowl record is 29-23-1
• The Sooners are tied for fourth-most bowl appearances (53) of all time
• OU has the fourth-highest bowl winning percentage (.557) all-time (min. 50 appearances)

Now just because, here are a few highlights from some of OU’s more memorable bowl wins of the past 21 seasons.

Bob Stoops wins the BCS National Championship over Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke and the Florida State Seminoles in his second season as Oklahoma’s head coach.

A young Trevor Knight leads the Sooners in a stunning Sugar Bowl upset over Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Heisman Trophy finalists Baker Mayfield and Dede Westbrook lead OU over the Auburn Tigers in the Sugar Bowl.

Follow Crimson & Cream Machine on Twitter!